


high and low like a rollercoaster

by goducksgo



Series: type 1 spidey [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers - Freeform, Bi Peter Parker, Bisexual Peter Parker, Blood, Diabetic Peter Parker, F/M, Fluff, High School Peter Parker, Irondad, Marvel - Freeform, Needles, Non canon compliant, Overprotective Tony, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Has Anxiety, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker is Spiderman, Peter Parker is Tony's adopted son, Sick Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark's A+ parenting, Type 1 Diabetes, diabetes fic, diabetic highs, diabetic lows, mcu - Freeform, not canon, overprotective Avengers, peter parker anxiety, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2020-08-20 10:55:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20226688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goducksgo/pseuds/goducksgo
Summary: everyone fighting.everything flying everywhere.dad’s telling me something, but my head hurts and i can’t hear him.shit.shaky hands.pounding headache.blurry vision.karen displayed my bg on my heads-up display. the number 35 flashed back at me, with a downward arrow beside it.not now.please, not now.





	1. first day of school

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys! this is my first fic on ao3, and i just wanted to say a few things before you started reading :)
> 
> \- lowercase is intended  
\- this is not compliant with the mcu  
\- i am not diabetic, most of my knowledge comes from my family and friends (one has t1d, two have t2d), research, and my general interest in endocrinology  
\- i understand many people have different experiences managing their diabetes, and some things i write may not be completely accurate or realistic, i try my best ;)  
\- this is just for fun, i'm a high school student with a ton of extra curriculars so i probably won't be updating as much as other dedicated writers do here on ao3
> 
> and that's it! i really really really love this fandom and i've been reading spiderson/irondad fics for a long time now! i don't know how many people are even going to come across this story but please enjoy!!

**chapter one: first day of school**

“c’mon, peter. just smile, would ya?”

i sighed, smiling a little and letting tony snap a couple pictures on his phone. “this is so corny. who still takes pictures of their kids on the first day of school when they’re _sixteen_?” i teased, grabbing my backpack off the kitchen island and heading to the elevator.

“you’ve got everything, right?” tony walked with me to the living room. “your omnipod, backup meter and test strips, glucose tabs -”

“yeah, yeah –“

“don’t _yeah, yeah _me, kid.” he interrupted, turning me around.

“i’m sorry.” i apologized. “you know you don’t have to worry. i’ve got everything under control.” i assured him.

“i know.” tony replied, ruffling my hair. i got on the elevator, glancing at my stark watch. _7:42. _

“remember, your lunch period’s at twelve forty this semester, so set an alarm on your phone for –“

“fifteen minutes before so i can bolus. i know.” i said reassuringly. i reached into my pocket for my phone and earbuds.

“have a good day!” tony waved as the elevator doors shut. i smiled as the elevator made its way down the eighty-seven floors of the tower.

i was walking through the subway station when i got a text.

_ahh we’re officially juniors! see you in homeroom :) - _ned

i quickly typed back _excited -- on my way _and got on the train.

i actually _was _excited to get back to midtown. summer break was great - tony let me come with him to germany on a business trip - but it wasn’t fun having everyone breathing down my neck the whole time. ned was on vacation in australia with his family, and mj was with her dad in san francisco, which left me in the tower surrounded by tony, pepper, and the avengers all day. i mean, i love everyone, but when they’re constantly asking me what my blood sugar is and when the last time i ate was - it can get annoying after a while. going to school for seven hours a day gives me, in a weird way, some freedom.

the train abruptly stopped, startling me. this wasn’t my station. the conductor made some announcement about an unexpected delay at the station in front of us. i sighed, knowing this meant the subway wouldn’t operate for a good half hour. i quickly made my way off of the train and up the stairs to the streets. i checked the time. _8:03. _not good. i decided to run about eleven blocks and get to the next subway station. i caught the train before it left and sighed in relief.

five minutes later, i got off and headed into school. i heard a ‘ping’ and looked down at my phone. another text.

_hey loser xD don’t have any morning classes together so i’ll cyu @ lunch - _mj

i grinned. i hadn’t seen much of mj over the break and couldn’t wait to give her this necklace i had found in a little shop in stuttgart. black dahlias were her favourite flower, and the second i saw the necklace in the store window, i just knew i had to get it for her.

i was putting all my things into my locker when ned came up to me.

“peter!”

“ned!”

we pretended to fight with lightsabers - ignoring the looks from the cheerleaders across the hallway - and ended with our handshake.

“i feel like i haven’t seen you in forever.” ned remarked, as i pulled a case of juice boxes out of my bag and storing them on my locker shelf.

“same! how was austrailia?” i asked, zipping up my bag. we walked to class, me listening to ned talk about his visit to the sydney opera house with his seven annoying cousins. we found our seats in homeroom and waited for our teacher to arrive.

just when the bell rang i felt a headache coming on. my hands were slightly shaking as i double tapped my stark watch where tony had my dex reading set up. _59 and dropping_. shit. i opted for a glucose tab, not wanting to get in trouble for eating food in class my first day. i popped open the tube and shook the last one out. i had forgotten to grab a new pack before leaving the tower this morning. i let that dissolve in my mouth but didn’t feel any better. i started to feel dizzy and figured i had to get to my locker.

i raised my hand, increasingly feeling tired. “sorry, ms. mcbain, could i get a hall pass?” i impatiently interrupted my teacher’s reading of the midtown code of conduct. she nodded. i stood up, feeling a wave of dizziness. i regained my balance, telling ned i was fine, and walked out of the classroom. i checked my bg again. _47 and still dropping. _this just had to happen on the first day. my head was pounding as i started to unlock my locker. i opened an apple juice box and downed a few sips. my phone buzzed in my pocket.

_from: dad_

_just got an alert from FRIDAY. you’re low. _

_peter, you’re dropping. are you eating something right now?_

_i can come pick you up, kid. can you blood check your sugar please?_

_peter. _

_PETER._

the texts were coming like rapid fire, but i was too focused on trying to swallow the juice to answer. i grabbed my meter bag and sat down against the cold metal. wiping my ring finger with an alcohol pad, i tried to carefully prick my finger but my vision was blurry.

“fuck!” i winced as the needle struck the side of my finger instead. another small sip of apple juice and i tried again. squeezed it for some blood and dabbed it onto the test strip. it read 38. shit shit shit. my phone rang, presumably from tony. i answered, putting it on speakerphone.

“peter, are you okay?” tony’s nervous voice rang out. “i’m driving over right now, what happened?”

i felt overwhelmingly nauseous and set the juice box down. “i don’ f’l so good.” i slurred.

“i know, i know, kid. dex says you’re 43. did you check?”

“mhm.” i mumbled. “38.” i muttered. i could basically feel my dad’s anxiety radiating through the phone.

“i’m here. are you at your locker?” he asked. i nodded. i was just too groggy to reply. moments later, my dad was by my side, kneeling beside me.

“hey, peter.” i felt tony scrambling through my things. he lifted the juice box, sighing when he realized it was still half full.

“sorry.” i managed to say, closing my eyes and resting my head back. tony lightly shook my shoulder.

“it’s alright, kid. you gotta stay up, though.” he put four crackers in my hand. “can you try and eat these for me?” he asked nicely. i nodded, slowly putting one to my mouth.

“i’m going to check again, okay?” he said, grabbing another test strip and sliding it into my meter. i felt the prick on my index finger and the familiar beeping.

“is i’ up?” i asked, nibbling on the cracker.

“uh, just focus on eating those and we’ll get you back to the car.” tony replied, smiling. he fumbled with the device from my jacket pocket to adjust my basal rate. “half basals, two hours,” he muttered to himself.

i finished the crackers and started to stand up. tony wrapped his arm around me and helped me. he closed my locker and we walked to the car. tony carefully placed me in the passenger seat, swiftly sliding into the driver’s seat moment’s later.

“FRIDAY, can you get us home?” he said, tapping a few things on the screen.

“no problem, sir.” the AI’s voice answered, starting up the car and backing out of the parking space.

“it’s been about ten minutes, i’m gonna check one more time, alright?” he said, slightly nudging me.

“uh huh.” i answered. a couple minutes later, and i heard tony sigh in relief.

“it’s up?” i asked hopefully.

“55 and rising.” tony replied. he reached over and opened the glove compartment, ripping open a pack of gummy bears and giving me nine. i started eating them without instruction, as the car made its way through the traffic.

“almost home, pete.” the tower was in sight, and i smiled at the thought of lying in my bed and taking a nap.

___________________

“can i go to sleep now?” i whined, resting my head on tony’s shoulder. we had been on the couch in the common room for a while now. when we had arrived at the tower i had wanted to lay down somewhere immediately, the avengers common space being the closest area there was.

“hold on, let me check.” tony reached over and tapped my stark watch twice. “you’re 83 and going up. get some rest.” he smiled, sliding a pillow under me and gingerly getting up. i fell asleep immediately.

_____________________

“so, are you going to tell me what happened today?” tony asked, shifting his body to face me. we were at the kitchen table in the penthouse. i had woken up from my nap near lunch time, so tony had decided to make toast and eggs. we’d just finished up when my dad wanted to talk.

“i didn’t think it would be that bad.” i admitted, looking down at my socks. “my bg this morning was 106, after breakfast it was 122.” my thumbs fidgeted as i tried to remember the numbers.

“did something go wrong with the pump?” tony asked. i shook my head.

“there was a problem on the subway and i was running late so i got off and ran a bit -”

“peter -”

“i know.” i looked up at tony. “i ran two stops over and got back on the train. when i got to school i was feeling fine, i guess, just got a headache during homeroom. i figured i was low so i was going to take a couple tabs but i only had one left -” tony raised his eyebrows. “so i had to ask for a hall pass to go to my locker, and well, you know the rest.”

“okay.” tony glanced at me, a worried look on his face.

“i’m sorry.” i said quietly.

“it’s alright, peter. just, don’t put so much pressure on yourself.” tony smiled comfortingly. “if there was a problem on the train, you could’ve waited it out or gotten a cab. you know i don’t like you running under 160.”

“i just didn’t want to be late on my first day.” i shrugged.

“happy’s going to drive you to school from now on.”

“dad -”

“no excuses.” tony cut me short. “i told you he doesn’t mind, and i never liked the idea of you taking the subway anyway.” he stated.

“fine.” i slumped in my chair. tony got up and started washing the dishes.

“soo,” he started. “any cute girls at school today?”

“dad!”

“or guys? i mean, it is your first day back-”

“god, we are not having this conversation!” i exclaimed, tony chuckling.

“alright, alright.” he pretended to surrender, making me laugh. “i guess the first day of junior year wasn’t too successful then?”

“not exactly.” i grinned.


	2. i'll be fine, dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tony and pepper have to go to a conference in china and leave peter at the tower with steve and nat.
> 
> one evening the three decide to go for a run in central park. peter has a 'diet' dr.pepper slushie and his bg skyrockets. steve and nat try to help their little spider-ling.

**chapter two: i’ll be fine, dad**

“i’ll be fine, dad.” i reassured, not looking away from the tv. i was watching a documentary about wakanda, with tony and pepper making dinner in the kitchen. 

“it’s two weeks. we’ve never him alone for that long before.” tony said quietly to pepper, but my super-hearing let me hear every word.

“he’s sixteen, tony. i’m sure he can handle himself.” she replied softly.

“i’m almost seventeen!” i shouted out, making my adoptive parents chuckle.

“dinner will be ready soon, kid. did you pre-bolus?” tony asked.

“no,” i admitted, quickly pausing the movie.

“this is why we can’t leave you alone.” tony muttered. i glared at him as i grabbed my testing bag from my room.

“can you do a blood check?” tony quipped.

“why?” i whined.

“it’s been ten days since we put in a sensor so we’re going to change it after we eat.” he explained, setting the table.

“fine.” i hastily ripped open an alcohol pad and cleaned my index finger. i checked my lancet device.

“shit.” i said, noticing the unlit yellow indicator.

“language!” tony’s voice rang out from the kitchen. i rolled my eyes. i opened up my box of lancets, carefully loading it into the pen and twisting off the cap. i pricked my finger, sighing when there was no blood. i adjusted the penetration and pricked it again, wincing at the pain. i went through the all too familiar routine of putting the drop of blood onto the test strip, waiting for my omnipod to respond. _116\. _it asked me if i was going to eat.

“what’s the carb count for dinner?” i shouted from the couch.

“63!” tony replied. i inputted it into the device and let the pump deliver the insulin. i checked my phone. _7:14. _

i walked to the kitchen, sitting down at the table.

“bg was okay?” pepper asked.

“yup, 116.” i answered. tony brought out the plates of mashed potatoes, green beans, and grilled chicken. i was about to dig in when i realized i should check the time. _7:18. _damn. i put down my fork.

“how much longer do you have to wait?” pepper asked sweetly, putting down her spoon.

“you guys can eat, i don’t want you guys to wait for me.” i responded. they decided to wait.

“so, our flight tomorrow’s at nine.” tony said. “nat and steve are always at the tower so just go to them if you need anything, they have dr.rhee’s number in case anything happens-”

“nothing’s going to happen.”

“- and i know it’s a half day of school on the 20thso happy’s going to pick you up at 11:30 that day. did i forget anything?” tony turned to pepper.

“let FRIDAY know when you’re going out, just so we always know where you’re at.” pepper added.

“why don’t you just put a tracker in my neck?” i joked.

they didn’t laugh.

“don’t tell me you actually -”

“no, peter.” tony interrupted. “it, it’s not in your neck.”

“what the hell? is it in my arm, or inside-”

“relax, kid,” he chuckled. “it’s on your backpack.”

“what?” i exclaimed, making tony and pepper laugh. “that is a total violation of my privacy and not to mention a human rights-” i was cut off by my phone buzzing. i turned off the timer and dug into the food, tony and pepper joining me.

“are you guys excited to go to china?” i asked, changing the subject.

“i guess.” pepper replied. “there’s a lot of pressure on our stark industries AI tech presentation during the conference.” she bit her lip.

“i’m sure it’ll be awesome. SI’s got no competition.” i grinned. pepper smiled as we continued eating dinner. we talked about midtown’s new advanced robotics course, decathlon, and uncle rhodey’s new girlfriend, laughing when tony suggested rhodes wasn’t letting us meet her because she liked iron man more than war machine.

i set my utensils down to bring my plate to the sink. “finish, please.” tony said, pointing to the three green beans i had left. i scowled and popped them in my mouth before setting it down.

“happy?” i swallowed the beans.

“very.” tony grinned.

___________________________

“call us if you need anything, kid.” tony said as he loaded his luggage into the back of the car.

“i’ll be fine, dad.”

“i can always come back if you need me to, god knows i’d rather be in new york instead of talking business with a bunch of egotistical, rich executives -”

i raised my eyebrows, earning a little ruffle in my hair from tony.

“we love you, peter.” pepper smiled, kissing me on my forehead. “we’ll see you in a bit, okay?” i nodded, waving them off as they got in the car and drove away. i headed back up the tower to do some homework in the lab. i always liked being surrounded by all the projects and machines whirring around; it was easier to work there, better than the school library.

i was finishing up some chemistry problems when someone knocked on the glass door.

“hey, kid.” steve said, rubbing his eyes. “it’s ten a.m. on a saturday and you’re doing homework?”

“what can i say, i’m an early bird.” i grinned. “what’re you doing here?”

“uh, just wanted to check in, see if you need a snack or something.” he sat across from me on the work bench.

“i’m good.” i replied, erasing a couple of notes on my page and rewriting them. i had checked my bg after tony and pepper had left. 113. it was going to be a good day.

“you sure? nat and i were going to make popcorn, maybe watch a movie too.” he smirked.

“really?” my eyes flickered. “which movie?”

“i don’t know, something with a certain brown bear and han solo …”

“i’m in!” i replied, closing my textbook and binder.

“alright, spider-kid.” he smiled. we walked to the elevator to head up to the avengers complex.

“chewie isn’t a bear, by the way.” i quipped, clicking the button for the 71stfloor. “he’s a wookiee warrior, his species were humanoids native to the planet kashyyyk, which has three y’s by the way, and they speak shyriiwook -”

“the grunts and whatnot.”

i stared daggers at steve, the most uneducated member of the avengers when it came to star wars. he laughed as we got off the elevator and saw natasha in the kitchen.

“morning, spidey.” she smiled, steve going over to the living room.

“mornin’.”

she grabbed a bowl from the counter. “how much popcorn do you want?” she asked.

“i can just eat out of the bag.” i replied, looking through my school email. mj was going to send us our itinerary for the state decathlon championship in three weeks, and i was really looking forward to it. we were the team to beat, after all, being national champions and what say you.

nat handed me my bowl of popcorn. i was going to protest, but she held her hand up. “you’re supposed to know exactly how much your eating, kid. i’m not about to get yelled at by tony for letting you do whatever you want for two weeks.” she winked.

“fine.” i grabbed the bowl. she walked over to the living room, me following. i cozied up in one of the arm chairs and she joined steve on the couch.

“attack of the clones?” steve asked.

“episode two’s shit.” he raised his eyebrows at me. “sorry,” i apologized. “episode six. it’s the best one.” i added.

as steve turned the movie on, i reached for my bowl of popcorn on the table, but nat threw a pillow at me.

“hey!”

“it’s ten carbs. pre-bolus.” nat stated.

“seriously?” i whined. “fine. can you at least pause the movie? i left my omnipod downstairs.”

steve nodded and reached for the remote. i hurried to the elevator and made my way to the lab. i grabbed my pdm and administered a bolus. i set a fifteen minute timer on my stark watch and soon found myself back in the common room.

“and resuming the one of the greatest projects of george lucas in three, two, one ...” i turned the movie back on and settled into my armchair.

___________________________

two and a half hours later, the popcorn was gone, the end credits rolling, and steve fast asleep.

“how can he sleep through something that amazing?” i laughed.

“he’s just tired.” nat grinned.

_guy’s slept for 70 years, you’d think he wouldn’t nap as much as he does. _i heard tony’s sarcastic remark in my head. i smiled at the thought.

“it’s almost one.” nat said, getting up. “i think i’m gonna go train, you can make yourself something for lunch, right?”

“microwaved cinnamon bun and a jug of milk.”

“peter!”

“i’m joking, relax.” i laughed, checking my bg. 72. i frowned.

“something wrong, kid?” steve mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

“no,” i replied, plastering a smile on my face. i mentally made a note to talk to dr.rhee about changing my basal rate. i shouldn’t be this low after spending hours watching tv. at this rate, i might pass out while patrolling, even if my bg’s higher than 150 before i leave, which tony is rigidly stubborn about.

“i’m about to eat,” steve said, startling me. “pasta okay?”

“sounds great. i’m just gonna stop by the lab and come back up.” steve nodded. i figured i could finish my chemistry and math homework while he was cooking.

____________________

a week flew by fast, and nothing really happened. tony and i facetimed a couple days ago; the conference in china seemed to be going perfectly, SI’s launch the new HUD being widely successful.

“hey, peter?” nat waved her hand in front of me.

“sorry, what?” i looked up at the two avengers in front of me, making them chuckle.

“steve and i are getting pretty tired of the treadmills in the tower so we figured we’d go for a run through central park. you want to join us?” she asked.

“yeah, i’m just going to blood check my bg.” i replied. i knew i had to replace my dexcom sensor tonight, tony never trusted the cgm’s readings on replacement days.

“we’re going to change, just make sure it’s above 160, okay? tony told us -”

“yeah, i know.” i muttered, fumbling with my test strips and getting one inside my meter. i pricked my pinky finger, letting the blood soak the end of the strip and for the four seconds to pass. 134. shit.

i quickly grabbed a berry-flavoured energy gel from the fridge and slurped it down, gagging slightly at the taste. i never liked gels. natasha came out of her room, adorned with a tshirt, shorts, and running shoes. 

“you good?” she asked, bending down to tie her shoe laces.

“i was 134, but i took a gel. i’ll get changed and check again, i promise.” i said, hurrying to the elevator. ten minutes later, i was back in the avengers common room and had on a midtown short sleeve, shorts, and my old nike’s.

“your shoes are worn out, kid. you should ask tony to get you some new ones.” steve remarked, ready to go run.

“uh, yeah, i guess.” i put on a smile. i still felt uncomfortable asking tony for anything besides school stuff, like pencils or a new backpack. i felt anxious just thinking of asking tony for something as material as new running shoes. kids at my school already knew i was adopted by him and living with the avengers, showing up to class with new stuff would only spark more rumours about me being some spoiled, pitied -

“you ready to go?” steve asked, stopping me from spiraling any further.

“he still has to check his blood sugar.” nat piped up, making me scowl. i sat myself down at the island and went through the routine i had gone through since i was five. 179. i smiled.

“it’s 179. can we go now?” i asked excitedly. i never minded running on the treadmills in the tower gym, but running outside was always more exciting. nat and steve bickered about something as i grabbed my phone and earbuds, following them out of the tower.

we walked to one of the entrances to central park, then started our run. it wasn’t too intense, seeing as i was enhanced, but natasha was fast and steve was captain america, so i figured they were taking it easy, for me. i gritted my teeth at the thought. i wasn’t a little kid, but everyone liked to treat me like i was. i shook off the thought and continued running through the park, listening to “back in black” by acdc. i’d shocked tony with my astounding lack of rock music knowledge when we had first met; i reckoned i should listen to some of his spotify favourites.

an hour later, we had run eleven miles, were sweaty, tired, and hungry. nat reminded us there was dinner waiting at the tower, but caved when steve suggested we get a snack. we walked into a nearby 7-11, the cashier startled by the sight of two avengers and a teenage kid in their store.

steve grabbed a lemon-lime gatorade and a pack of pretzels, nat opting for a bottled green smoothie. they were out of diet pepsi, so i figured i’d get a diet dr.pepper slushie. i filled up a cup and capped it off, joining nat and steve at the cashier.

i sipped my cool drink as we walked back to the tower. we talked about clint and his insistence that we take one of the puppies his dog leia had in the Missouri.

“i doubt any of us could take care of a puppy for a week, nevermind a few years.” steve laughed, as he chugged his gatorade and chomped on his pretzels as we walked.

“agreed. tony would probably find some way to have friday do all the work.” nat joked.

we talked all the way back to the tower and soon found ourselves settled in the avengers common room. i finished my drink and tossed in the garbage, feeling a little odd, but shook the feeling off. i had just run, right? and i had a long conversation with two freaking avengers! i attributed the odd feeling to nerves and decided to study for my study for my spanish quiz until nat finished making dinner. i walked past steve reading a book about world war ll (didn’t he like basically fight in it though?) and nat cutting up potatoes at the kitchen counter. i was about the reach the elevator when i got sudden headache and my legs buckled, making me fall to my hands and knees on the ground.

“peter!” nat shouted, rushing towards me. steve joined her not a second after and helped me up.

“are you okay?” steve asked nervously, setting me down on one of the couches across from him.

“y-yeah,” i stuttered. “i’m f-fine.”

“you don’t sound fine at all.” nat replied sternly, bringing my kit bag to the table. she didn’t have to ask. they worriedly watched me slip a test strip into my meter, lancing my finger, squeezing out a drop of blood and dabbing it onto the strip. i didn’t have to see the number to know i was high.

  1. my stomach dropped.

“fuck.” i muttered, steve not saying anything. i tried to get up from the couch.

“take it easy, peter.” steve said assertively. “what do you need?” he asked, standing up.

“uh,” i tried to think, but i was having trouble concentrating. “i need water, like a lot, and um, an insulin pen - an orange one, not the blue.” i said. i absentmindedly checked my phone and saw dozens of “high glucose alerts” from dex and texts from tony, who had inevitably received them too. i typed back _dealing with it, explain later _when nat and steve came back. they watched me ready the pen and inject it into my arm, feeling relieved. at least the insulin could do its job. i silently cursed myself for forgetting to change my sensor and pod this morning, and leaving it for the evening.

i then grabbed hastily at the five water bottles nat had brought and started chugging, my increased thirst at its high right now. i sputtered and choked on a gulp of water, making me hack violently in front of the two people who were utterly terrified at the moment. after assuring them i was fine, i finished off the bottle and reached for another.

“is there anything else we can do?” nat asked, trying to smile but only forming a concerned, grim line with her mouth.

“i’m just going to finish this bottle, go to the bathroom, and check my bg again. if it’s down i’ll just drink more water and keep flushing out the glucose. if it’s still high, then …” i drifted off, opting to chug more water than admit that i should call my doctor, and tony.

i finished it quickly, heading to the bathroom and back in several minutes. i ignored the staring from steve and nat and checked my bg. 503. well, there we go. i showed nat and steve, who were still in shock at the number, but seemed less worried when i smiled and kept drinking water.

“um, nat?” i piped up, interrupting our awkward silent moment of ‘watching peter drink water like it’s his life mission’ and startling her.

“yeah?”

“shouldn’t you check on dinner? that shepherds pot pie’s been in the oven for a while.” i gestured at the food she had been preparing and completely forgot about.

“oh, oh right. you’re okay?” she asked, looking behind her at the kitchen. i gave her a thumbs up, while drinking the water. she smiled and hurried to take the pie out of the oven. i could hear her relieved sigh when it wasn’t burnt.

“i’m going to go to the bathroom again.” i said, getting up. “can you throw the insulin pen in the sharps bin, please?” i asked steve. grateful for something to do, he nodded and capped the used pen. when i came back, his foot was anxiously tapping the ground.

“relax, steve. i’ve had highs before.” i reassured him, prepping my meter for another blood check.

‘i know, but they’ve never been this high, right? even when tony was here the highest bg reading you had was like 500 or something …” steve quieted down when i winced at the prick of my finger.

“did it hurt?” he asked, his tone soft again.

“not too much. i just don’t like lancing my pinky.” i said, cleaning up my supplies and letting the meter read.

“it’s 410. is that better?” steve shouted out, as i dumped all the alcohol swabs and used test strips in the garbage.

“yup.” i replied, sitting back down. i had injected the insulin pen about twelve minutes ago, so it hadn’t really done its work just yet. i knew in a couple of hours, i would be back to normal and i could finally replace my cgm and omnipod before i went to bed.

“it still seems high.” steve bit his lip.

“should i call tony?” nat called out, bringing plates of food to the table.

“no, guys, it’s fine. it’ll go down soon, and if it doesn’t, i’ll call tony myself.” i promised. funnily enough, my phone rang and i reached to get it to see who it was. dad.

“hey, dad, we were just talking about you!” i laughed as i answered the phone.

“peter, dex gave me an alert you were getting high like forty minute ago. what the hell happened?” i heard tony’s stern voice reply. i bet tony could see me rolling my eyes.

“i went out for a run with steve and nat - don’t worry, my bg was 179 - and after we went to a 7-11 for a snack, i guess my slushie wasn’t diet so i ended up being high when i tested at the tower.” i explained.

“you dose yet? are you drinking lots of water? what’s your bg?” tony asked frantically.

“yes, yes - i’m practically drinking the atlantic ocean here - and last it was 410, going down. blood check.” i mentioned.

“okay, sounds like you’re getting better.” tony answered, pausing. “now, what were you doing drinking a non-diet slushie?” he asked, now slightly mad.

“i didn’t know -”

“you know that restaurants aren’t careful about this kind of stuff, peter.” my dad interrupted.

“i know that they aren’t, i just made a mistake -”

“did you have your glucose meter with you?” he asked, making me sigh.

“no, not exactly.” i admitted.

“why didn’t you? you know you can to check any ‘diet’ drinks with it, just,” tony took a deep breath. “be more careful next time, okay? i don’t need you giving me a heart attack.” he chuckled, making me smile.

“will do, dad.” i said, throwing the empty plastic bottle in the garbage and grabbing another one. “i’ll text you once it gets under 200.”

“sounds good. take care of yourself, kid.” tony said.

“i’ll try.” i grinned. i hanged up and realized nat and steve were staring at me. “what?” i asked, sipping my drink.

“nothing.” they shared a secret look, steve smirking.

____________________________

i had skipped dinner - bg plateaued around 290, and studied for my spanish quiz. nat, being fluent in the language, helped me a lot, and by 9pm i felt ready to dominate the test tomorrow. i had also changed my sensor and pod while steve and nat were eating, quite a difficult ordeal without tony to help me, but nevertheless i managed to change both with no issues.

“hey, kid.” steve knocked on the door.

“hey.” i replied, setting down my phone and looking up at the head that had peeked into my room.

“your bg’s down?”

i nodded. “134. i think i’m gonna sleep, highs make me tired.” i replied.

“alright. g’night, peter.” steve smiled, closing the door.

“g’night.” i said quietly. tony and pepper weren’t going to be back for another week. i thought i’d miss them a lot, like i usually did when they went on business trip. but i wasn’t alone. i had steve and nat, two of the most caring people i’d met since i moved into the tower. i smiled. i wasn’t alone.


	3. parker's first high school party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter's blood sugar is oddly high while he's at mia samuel's party, and he can't figure out why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! i'm back with another chapter for y'all, i had a couple different prompts in mind, but this one was really fun to write and is inspired by a problem posted on a diabetes forum by a t1d omnipod user! thanks so so so much for the positive reactions and constructive comments from the last two chapters, i wasn't really expecting any one to stumble onto this fic and i'm really happy you guys are enjoying it!

**chapter three: parker's first high school party**

it wasn’t a big deal.

i just had to mention it to dad in front of the other avengers.

“ooh, parker’s first high school party? you’d better hope he doesn’t come back to the tower drunk with two girls in hand -”

“barton!”

“what?” clint raised up his hands in surrender, tony staring daggers at him.

“would everyone relax?” i sighed. “there’s not going to be any alcohol at the party -”

“_of course._” nat snickered.

“i’m serious!” i crossed my arms as everyone laughed.

“i swear, if i ever catch lila drinking, i’ll shoot an arrow straight through the glass.” clint muttered, making me and steve laugh. because superhearing.

“you’ll be done by eleven, correct?” tony turned to face me. i nodded. “happy’ll be waiting outside the kid’s house - who’s this kid again?”

“mia samuels. she invited the whole school, it’s kind of her way of trying to win valedictorian next year.” i answered.

“getting your friends drunk and watching them swan dive into a swimming pool is definitely going to get her votes.” nat muttered, rolling her eyes, clint chuckling.

“i’ll be good, alright? no drinking, no _swan-dives_, and i’ll meet happy outside at 10:30. okay?” i confirmed.

“capiche.” my dad replied, getting out his phone, probably to text happy mia’s address.

___________________________

i was getting ready in my room when someone knocked on my door.

“come in!” i shouted, desperately trying to comb an annoying lock of hair into place.

“tony’s asking for you in the kitchen.” steve said, popping his head into my bedroom.

“oh, okay, thanks.” i replied, sighing in relief as my hair behaved and finally looked decent. i followed steve out of my room to the elevator, where it took us to the common room. i got off, steve heading down to the training room.

“hey, kid. you excited for the party?” tony asked, looking up from his laptop.

“i guess.” i sat down on one of the high bar chairs. “mj’s about to pick me up, did you need something?”

“nope. just wanted to check in before you left.” he replied. “bg?”

“124. i checked around 10 minutes ago.”

“okay. and you have your kit? low snacks, phone’s charged?”

“oui, si, да.” i answered.

“nat’s been teaching you some russian?” tony grinned.

“yeah, just a few words though. spanish is hard enough.” i smiled back, looing down at my phone to see a text from mj.

_hurry up, loser. i’m parked outside the main entrance._

“she’s here.” i said, getting up from my seat. “i’ll see you later, dad.”

“have fun, kiddo.”

i hastily waved as i grabbed my bag and headed to the elevator. minutes later, i was sitting in the passenger seat of mj’s car, ned and i yelling at mj to slow down.

“mj! we’re not late or anything, can you just slow down?” ned frantically asked.

“would you relax? i’m not even going above the speed limit.” she replied nonchalantly, whipping around a corner down another street i didn’t recognize. a couple more turns and we pulled up to mia’s house, already surrounded by lots of cars and people, with music playing loudly.

“isn’t she going to get in trouble for the music if the neighbours call the police?” i wondered aloud, as the three of us walked up her long driveway.

“i doubt they can even hear us.” mj responded, gesturing at the street. i had never really been to this area of the city. the houses were big and spaced really far apart. i could barely make out the outline of the closest house in the moonlight.

we walked up the steps and through the open doors. we were greeted by tons of our schoolmates drinking from red solo cups and mingling. some rowdy kids were throwing around a football - something was bound to get hit and break - and some kids i recognized from decathlon were in the back.

“i see sally and james. c’mon.” mj beckoned for us to follow her to the kitchen. we all ended up talking about the state championship coming up, and how excited we were to go to niagara falls.

the party wasn’t anything special. more kids from decathlon joined our little group and we ended up playing mafia, a really fun game cindy taught us. we watched the football guys breaking one of the framed puzzles on the wall, making mia freak out and force them to try and put it back together. mj laughed, stating they couldn’t fix the puzzle if they were offered a million dollars.

the rest of the night was pretty uneventful. ned ended up swimming with betty in the pool - i was pretty sure i saw ned blush when betty asked him to join her - and mj was off arguing with matthew from our chem class about globalization.

i was getting kinda bored when i realized it was ten pm, and i was pretty hungry. i spotted an untouched vegetable platter on the dining room table and put 10 baby carrots and a spoonful of hummus on a paper plate. i did the math in my head, counting about 9g of net carbs. i checked dex on my stark watch before pre-bolus. _156\. _weird. i hadn’t had anything to eat since dinner at the tower, and that was two and a half hours ago. i chalked it up to low exercise - i would usually be patrolling this time on friday nights - and corrected, setting a timer on my phone for 15 minutes. i looked around the party, my eyes drawn to a cute guy standing against the staircase reading a book. his green eyes darted across the pages as he brushed his wavy blonde hair from his forehead. _must be new, _i thought. _i haven’t seem him around our school before. maybe he doesn’t go to midtown. damn, that would really suck._

my thoughts were interrupted by a loud scream from the backyard, followed by lots of yelling and shouting. i hurried back there to see what was going on.

“get some buckets of water! hurry!” a guy yelled as he ran into the house, pushing through the crowd of people gathered around the patio. everyone scrambled to help as i craned my neck to see what was going on.

the tree was on fire.

correction: the trees were on fire.

the two large oak trees by the corner of mia’s backyard were engulfed in flames.

“someone use the hose!” a girl shouted. i heard her over the commotion and ran into the backyard, locating the hose and turning it on, a strong jet of water shooting out from the handle. i pulled it all the way across the backyard and sprayed it all over the trees, the fire dying out and the loud yelling ceasing.

“yeah, parker!” some kid shouted out, everyone clapping and whooping. i meekly turned off the water and headed back into the house. all the kids ended up swimming, talking, eating and dancing again like nothing had happened.

“good job, loser.” mj said, sitting next to me on one of the many sofas in mia’s house.

“yeah, peter, that was really cool!” betty piped up, her and ned joining us too.

“it’s not that big a deal.” i said, pulling my phone from my pocket. “everyone was just yelling and acting stupid. some girl said to use the hose and i did.” i shrugged, opening my messages and scrolling through them.

_kid, you’re a little high, mind correcting that?_

\- tony

shit. i checked dex and he was right. 208. i was about to pull out my omnipod when i realized that was really odd. i should’ve been low, with that bolus for the carrots and hummus, forgotten amidst the “trees on fire fiasco”.

“peter, is everything okay?” i heard ned ask worriedly.

“yeah, yeah, it’s fine. i’m just gonna get some water, i’m thirsty. you guys want anything?” i replied. everyone shook their heads, and so i walked over to the kitchen.

i had administered another bolus and was pouring myself a glass of water when i the familiar smell of sweet printer ink and bandaids. insulin?

i hurried over to the nearest mirror and checked my pump site on the back of arm. it was peeling off, with insulin leaking out of the cannula. shit. i fished a plastic bag from my bag and carefully took off the entire pump, zipping it up and storing it in my bag to throw out at home. no wonder i was high. i glanced at my watch. 10:30. wasn’t happy picking me up at 10:30?

i quickly said goodbye to my friends, mentioning my eleven pm curfew, and made my way over to one of tony’s audis parked by the curb.

“hey, happy.” i mumbled as i got into the car.

“how was the party?” he asked, pulling away from the house.

“good. trees were on fire.” i muttered, a headache coming on.

“what the hell? kid, are you okay?” happy replied anxiously.

“yeah, yeah, i was high just a few minutes ago but i corrected and had some water -” i stopped.

“peter?”

the pump wasn’t working, probably the whole time i was at the party, and i had left the glass of water on the counter when i raced out to the car.

“fuck.” i muttered, ripping open my backpack.

“watch the language, pete. do you need me to pull over?” he asked.

“no, no, just keep driving, i need to get home.” i answered, finding what i was looking for. an insulin jet injector. tony had bought one for me to take to things where i didn’t want to have to use a needle, and i needed insulin in my bloodstream quickly. i finished set it up, rolling up my shorts and placing the nozzle against the side of my thigh. pressing the button, i bit down on my tongue to stop me from swearing out loud. because shit, it hurt like hell.

“you alright, kid? we’re almost home.” happy announced.

“okay.” i said, putting everything back into my bag and opening up the dexcom app on my phone. 266, and a slightly diagonal downwards arrow.

“here.” happy tossed me a plastic water bottle from the glove compartment.

“thanks, happy.” i smiled genuinely, chugging the water.

_________________________

“so, i talked to dr. rhee about extending the cannula to around 7mm so it won’t come out agin and leak, does that sound okay?” tony asked. we were in my room, with him taking the chair from my desk and rolling it over to the bed, where i was lying down.

“yeah, that sounds good. i just really didn’t want to start using a tubed system.” i replied. “thanks, dad.”

“no problem, kid. you should get some sleep, it’s almost two.” he replied smiling.

“you don’t even sleep until six, and then pepper wakes you up at eight for business calls. you should get some sleep, dad.” i grinned, pulling the covers over my body.

“nah, iron man doesn’t need sleep. g’night, kiddo.” tony said, closing the door slowly behind him.

“g’night.” i muttered back.

my first high school party.

highlights?

trees on fire.

i didn’t pass out.

i’m 95% sure ned’s dating betty now.


	4. just one of those rare days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just one of those rare days where diabetes doesn't seem all that hard to manage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys im backk! sorry this new chapter took me forever, i was almost finished half of it when i started my junior year of high school! anyways, i hope you like this chapter, it's basically just some irondad/spiderson fluff and decathlon practice! i was super excited to use a marvel headcanon i found on pinterest at team dinner, i hope you enjoy! chapter 5 will be out soon, but it's a loong one ;)
> 
> also, thank you so much for 1700+ hits and 77 kudos! your support truly means THE WORLD to me and i am really trying to power through and finish this story as fast as i can, even with tons of homework and school stuff in the way :)

**chapter four: just one of those rare days**

i woke up to an alert on my phone. _blood glucose 216 and rising. _i sighed and scrambled out of bed to get my omnipod off my desk. i corrected, changed into a midtown hoodie and gym shorts, and headed to the kitchen.

“hey, dad.” i chirped, walking past tony at the table and grabbing an empty glass from the counter.

“mornin’ kid.” he replied. i poured myself a glass of water and sat down across from my dad. “you check your bg?”

“no, duh.” i said sarcastically, unlocking my phone and looking through my snapchats.

“someone’s sassy,” tony remarked. “you were high?”

“216.” i muttered, glancing at the refrigerator, realizing i was pretty hungry.

“you want breakfast? groceries arrived this morning.” tony piped up.

“i guess.” i got up and walked over to the kitchen. i grabbed a banana, yogurt cup, and frozen raspberries and figured i’d make a smoothie.

“measure properly, please.” i rolled my eyes at the familiar reminder. i sliced up half the banana and measured out 100g of raspberries. i took a quick glance at the nutritional label of the yogurt and dumped it into the blender. 16g. i tried to remember the number of carbs in the half banana. 14, 15? good enough.

“FRIDAY?” i asked as i fastened the lid. “how many carbs are in 100g of raspberries?”

“there are 12 grams.” the AI’s voice sweetly replied.

“thanks, FRI.” i blended everything together, pouring it into a tall glass. “you want some?” i turned to tony.

“peter, you know you can’t share-”

“i’m kidding, jesus, uncle rhodey needs to teach you what sarcasm sounds like.” i laughed, bringing the smoothie to the table and setting it down.

“you are talking to the king of sarcasm, right here.” tony said, pointing his thumbs towards himself, grinning.

“uh huh.” i pulled out my omnipod to bolus while tony looked over my shoulder. “you know i’ve done this before, right?” i teased. he watched as the bolus was administered and i pulled out my phone to set the timer. i figured i’d pass the time looking at iron man on youtube. i laughed as i watched iron man land at stark expo in front of all the dancers. 

“you were such a show off.” i nudged tony’s shoulder, showing him my phone.

“stop it with that.” tony laughed. “you’ve got the real deal sitting across from you and you’d rather watch some lame video from seven years ago?” he chuckled as i continued scrolling through.

______________

“what is the name and area of the largest island in the world?”

i promptly pressed the buzzer in front of me. “greenland, 2,131,000 square kilometers.”

“correct.” mj replied, not looking up from the practice book. our weekly decathlon practices had become daily practices, now that we were only two weeks from state championships. we had dominated regionals with an easy win against maspeth high school, but mj reminded us that we needed to be on top of our game if we wanted to win state.

“what are the three wonders of the world?” she asked quizzically.

ned answered quickly this time. “the great pyramid of giza, hanging gardens of babylon, and the lighthouse of alexandria.”

“correct again.”

“last question,” mj started. “which place on earth is the coldest place to live?”

i reached over and hit the buzzer. “oymyakon, russia.”

“yup.” mj replied. “that’s it for today, review any questions you missed in the geography section, and meet here for practice tomorrow at 2:45.”

everyone started packing up, folding up chairs and bringing the desks off the stage.

“hey, mj.” i called out, mj packing up her books and sticky notes from the table.

“what’s up, loser?” she asked, zipping up her backpack and turning around.

“ned and betty, uh, invited me to go with them to that drive-in movie place this saturday - they’re playing transformers - and i was wondering if you want to go too?” i asked.

“saturday? sure, i’m down.” she replied.

“um, awesome.” i tried really hard not to beam in happiness. “i didn’t really want to tag along alone, you know, ned and betty are always super annoyingly romantic -”

“we are not!” ned called out, mj laughing.

“okay, cool, i’ll see you at seven?” i asked.

“yup. bye, peter. see ya, ned.” mj waved as she swung her messenger bag around her back and left the gymnasium.

“dude!” ned punched me in the shoulder.

“ow! what?”

“it’s our first double date!” ned exclaimed.

“it’s not a date, ned. mj doesn’tlike me like that.” i sighed, starting to walk out the gym with my best friend.

“she totally does. you guys have basically been wheeling this whole school year now.” ned grinned.

“you sound like betty.” i poked at ned’s arm. “what’s wheeling anyways?”

we laughed and talked about the movie until i saw nat pull up at the school entrance.

“i still can’t believe the freaking _avengers _pick you up from school.” ned remarked, in awe of black widow honking the horn and waving at me.

“i know. it’s crazy. i’ll see you tomorrow, dude.”

we did our crazy-cool-super-secret-handshake and i jogged over to nat’s car.

“you look weirdly smiley, peter.” nat joked, as i fastened my seatbelt. “you get asked out or something?”

i tried not to blush. “just drive, please.”

“o-kay.”

___________________

“how was school today?” tony quizzically asked as i set down my backpack down and settled into one of the armchairs in the common room.

“pretty good. i’m getting really excited for state.” i replied, scrolling through my twitter for the second time today.

“we have team dinner in about half an hour.” tony said, swiping at his starkpad swiftly and putting it down. “you check your bg?”

i sighed, quickly closing the twitter app on my phone and opening dex. _99\. _i gave my dad a thumbs up, now opening instagram and looking at the recent posts tagged #spiderman.

“kids and their phones nowadays.” tony muttered, shaking his head and heading up the stairs to his room.

“it’s the digital age!” i yelled back.

____________________

it was chaotic and loud at the dinnertable with most of the avengers in attendance. tony and pepper were there, so was clint, thor, nat, bucky and steve. bruce was in india - or africa? - doing some research for a new biochem project for stark industries.

i was digging into my chicken drumsticks and peas when clint’s voice suddenly shook the table.

“FOUR MONTHS!”

“what’s he talking about?” nat asked, looking around at steve (who looked clueless as to what was going on), to tony and pepper (who were minding their own business and chatting), and at bucky (who was howling with laughter).

“it’s not even that big a deal!” bucky exclaimed, feigning innocence.

“YOU STOOD BY AND WATCHED ME WATER A FAKE PLANT FOR F O U R MONTHS!”

______________________

dinner was fun. after we had eaten i finished all of my assigned physics and advanced algebra homework for the day. all of sudden, it was midnight and i was checking my bg before going to sleep. 113.

today felt a normal day. kind of. it was pretty nice.

shit. did i just jinx myself?


	5. state, pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> midtown heads to the decathlon state championships! part 1 of 2 :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! it's been way too long since i've updated this fic, but i've got a lot of free time on my hands now (i live in ontairo, canada so we have no school for a while due to covid-19) so i've decided to finish this story featuring our favourite spider ling! 
> 
> this part 1 of chapter 5 is what i had written in september before i took a break from this pic, everything else will be written henceforth!
> 
> *i've been working on a hsmtmts fic called "this is me - reprise", if you like the show please read and show some love!*

**chapter five: state (pt.1)**

“largest ocean in the world?”

“really, dad?”

tony turned onto yet another deserted street. it was nearly six in the morning, the sun just starting to rise over the tall new york city skyscrapers. 

“pacific ocean.” 

“how many words are in the oxford dictionary?” he quizzed me once more.

“47,516, approximately.” i answered promptly. 

“you’ll be fine, peter, i don’t know why i you need me to keep testing you -”

“just one more.” i interjected, twiddling my thumbs as we approached midtown. 

“fine. fm and am stand for what?” tony pulled into the school parking lot. 

“frequency and amplitude modulation.” i replied. 

tony turned off the ignition with a swift flick of his fingers on the overhead display. “see, kid, you’re ready.”

“but it’s state! If we don’t win, we won’t go to nationals, and if we don’t go to nationals we won’t even get a chance to defend our title from last year -”

“peter.” my dad interrupted me, putting his hand on my shoulder. “just relax.” he said, smiling. “you’ve studied as much as you could, now you can have fun and enjoy _ niagara falls.” _tony pretended to look disgusted, making me chuckle. 

“okay. i’ll relax.” i replied, smiling too. 

we stepped out of the car, tony helping me with my bags. i trudged my way to the school entrance, setting my bags down once we were in the main foyer.

“i’m bringing too much.” i complained, taking a seat beside my dad on the chairs against the wall. “do i have to take all of this?” 

tony raised his eyebrows, making me sigh and lean back into my chair. i pulled out my phone, shooting a quick text to ned and checking my bg. _ 189\. _i scrounged through my backpack for my omnipod, administrating a small bolus. 

“you high, kid?” 

“just a little out of range.” i replied mindlessly, watching the insulin get delivered from my pump. i was putting it back into my bag when ned came through the doors, hauling a suitcase behind him. 

we talked about episode one of star wars (it was on tv last night!) and recounted the epic pod race scene, and before we knew it, the rest of the team had convened. 

_____________

after an - odd - speech by mr. harrington, we were all anxious to board the bus and say our goodbyes. 

“bye, dad.” i said, hugging tony. 

“have fun, kiddo. don’t worry too much, okay?” he pulled away from the hug and had his hands on my shoulders. “let me know if anything goes wrong, and please don’t let that idiot flash take all your low snacks, just be careful, okay?”

“i will!” i waved as i stepped onto the school bus and slid into a seat next to mj at the front. this was going to be an interesting trip. 

_____________

we arrived at the hotel in niagara at around four in the afternoon. exhausted from the nine hour bus ride, everyone headed to their assigned room with no hesitation. 

after settling into me and ned’s room, i checked my bg. _ 204 _. i bit my lip. 

“you good, peter?” ned peered at me, concern in his eyes. 

“i’m okay, ned.” i said reassuringly, getting my omnipod and giving myself another dose of insulin. 

____________

the forty minute nap i had - after correcting my high - was a godsend. the decathlon championship had a meet and greet this evening, and mr. harrington told us to get ready and meet in the lobby by seven. i was still exhausted, and contemplated skipping the whole event and watching a movie with ned in our room, when my phone pinged with texts from mj. 

_ i swear parker if you ditch the meet and greet i will shave off your beautiful head of hair tn _

_ im not joking i have to go to this thing and u and ned better be there too _

_ ill see u and ned in the lobby _

i sighed, realizing socializing with other decathlon kids my age might not actually be too terrible.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! part 2 will be up soon!


	6. state, pt.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tonight, we are young  
so let's set the world on fire  
we can burn brighter than the sun
> 
> "we are young"  
\- fun

**chapter six: state (pt.2)**

i was right. the meet and greet was pretty fun, all things considered. those things being: i didn’t like parties, my clothes were uncomfortable, and the music was just goddamn awful. 

but the three hours flew by way faster than i expected. ned was texting betty the ENTIRE time, but can you blame him? my guy in the chair couldn’t stop smiling when he talked about her. 

meanwhile mj was busy introducing herself to the other team captains, or as she called it, “establishing our dominance within the competition”, but looked like she was having a good time. 

and me? i spent some of the night just uselessly standing in the corner drinking sugar-free lemonade and watching kids ruthlessly head bang to the latest rap songs. where was my acdc at? tony would be disappointed at our generation’s lack of musical taste. 

but i near the end of the night i met a nice girl from ithaca high - carrie - and talked to her about decathlon, robotics, and iron man, who she was completely fascinated about. when i told her i “interned” at stark industries, she immediately asked me question after question, which wasn’t bad at all actually. most people would ask me about tony, or the iron man armour, or even doubt i had the internship in the first place, but carrie was instead interested in the latest r&d projects and the local technology business initiatives stark industries was funding as of late. 

in summary, it wasn’t a bad night. the 6.7/10 rating mj had given the event seemed appropriate. 

once ned and i said our goodnights to our fellow teammates as we all disappeared into our rooms, it hit me. the competition would really start tomorrow. like in t minus 13 hours. woah.

________________

  
  


“you alright, parker?” mj asked, watching me out of the corner of her eye as we settled into our team spot at the competition venue. i realized my hands were shaking a little, and nodded. 

“just nervous. you?” i asked, fishing my phone out of my yellow blazer pocket. 

“feeling pretty good, actually. talking to the other team captains last night really affirmed my decision to practice every day for the last two weeks, since most of the other teams started doing that only like a week before today.” mj replied factually, setting down her backpack and pulling out some flashcards. 

“anyone up for some last minute chemistry questions?” she asked, waving her deck of flashcards to the group. a couple kids motioned that they wanted to practice more, moving over to another table with mj. 

i glanced down at my phone. _ 102\. _so it was just nerves after all. the last thing i wanted today was a crazy low or high to ruin my day. 

________________

  
  


“midtown high?” a loud voice boomed over the chaotic chattering of our team, everyone quieting down to face the man holding a clipboard near the door. 

“we’re going to start having your competitors get ready for the quarter finals now.” 

and in less than 10 minutes, ned, mj, and cindy were taking our places on the stage and sitting down behind our table. 

and in another 25 minutes, we were shaking hands with the members of the northridge prep decathlon team, basking in our 80-50 victory. 

“good job, peter. that was a really advanced biochemistry question you answered.” mj noted, punching me lightly in the shoulder once we got off stage. “i don’t even remember going over that stuff at practice.” her eyebrows raised a little. 

“extra reading can come in handy you know.” i replied without thinking. my lying was getting better. i knew the answer to the question because bruce had just reviewed it with me last week when i was trying out some new web solution ideas. 

in less than an hour, ned was nervously chatting in my ear as we were ushered to another stage for the semi-finals against ithaca high. “peter! peter, what’s the thing that measures the responsiveness of a quantity demanded to a change in price?”

“elasticity, ned. and relax, cindy’s got the econ portion down pat.” i replied, mindlessly tapping my stark watch. my bg flashed at me as my teammates and i waited in the dark of the stage curtains. _ 161\. _that was high, right? i was getting a little anxious for the competition to start - the announcer-guy was taking way too long introducing our two schools - and i couldn’t think straight. it was four in the afternoon, so my target range was, what was it? 93 to 146. i grabbed my omnipod from my pocket and let it correct my blood sugar. 

“from queens, new york, midtown school of science and technology!” the emcee’s voice echoed as mj signaled for us to get onstage and take our places. 

question after question, point after point. the first thing i noticed was that carrie was really smart. like almost tony-stark-level smart. but i lived with the man himself. 

“what was the significance of the earthrise photo taken in 1968?”

ned pressed his buzzer at the speed of light. “the earthrise photograph showed that planet earth was small, fragile, mortal, and thus vulnerable.” he recited, grinning when midtown was awarded the points for the answer. 

three more questions and we had reached the final round. 

“walt whitman, the author of “passage to india”, established continuity in place of rhyme by use of which literacy technique?”

ugh, literature. not my strongest suit. but lucky for us, it was mj’s. 

“anaphora.” she stated. we erupted in cheer as it was declared the correct answer, a slight smile finding its way onto my best friend’s (don’t tell ned - mj’s my **girl **best friend) face. 

the scoreboard proudly read 70-60 as we descended the stage. 

“hey, peter.” carrie tapped me on the shoulder once my teammates and i finished high-fiving and celebrating. “great job today.” she beamed. 

“you too!” i gave her a quick hug. “you guys are gonna crush baruch college in the consolation finals.”

“thanks. good luck in finals!” carrie smiled. i waved to her as she skipped back to her school team. 

_____________

  
  


“hey, buddy! how’s it going?” my dad’s familiar voice came through in my earbuds. 

“we’re in the finals.” i replied. 

“that’s great, kid. you feel ready?” tony asked. 

“i guess.” i shrugged, flipping through my us government flashcards. 

“so,”

“so,” i repeated, knowing where this conversation was headed. 

“you’ve had a lot of highs lately, and i know you’ve been correcting but bruce was thinking it’d be a good idea to run a glycohemoglobin test once you get back to check your a1c and maybe look into adjusting your basal-bolus insulin regimen?”

“sounds good.” the diabetes-lingo was always a constant in my life, but it definitely got annoying at times. 

“i have to go right now, but call me as soon as you win, okay? and send me pictures of you and your friends with the state trophy.”

“**if **we win.” i chuckled. 

“you’re going to win, peter. i got to go. love you, bud.” tony said. 

“love you too, dad. bye.” i replied cheerily. 

“ned! peter!” mr. harrington called out for us. “finals are in 15 minutes, you two need to join michelle and cindy at stage 7.”

i nodded quickly, grabbing ned’s arm - abruptly cutting off his facetime with betty - and dragging him to the stage. 

_______________

  
  


the boys from la salle academy were good. 

midtown, la salle, midtown, la salle. we were neck in neck in points. 

those bright red blazers, crisp white shirts, and beige slacks did everything but calm my nerves. 

sweat was dripping down my forehead as we approached the last two questions. 

“mercury fumes were used by louis daguerre in his photographic experiments for what purpose?”

we didn’t have a chance against the la salle boy. “to reduce required light exposure for pictures from eight hours to half an hour.” he recited confidently. 

“correct.” 

it was down to this last question. i bit my lip. 

“using what process are monocrystalline silicon ingots produced?”

i hit my buzzer at an inhuman speed. lol.

“the floating zone crystal growth process.” i said. 

“congratulations midtown high!” the voice boomed throughout the auditorium. 

everything felt like a blur after that. golden yellow and royal blue balloons were released from the ceiling, and i was soon crushed in the tightest hug i’ve ever gotten from ned. 

we got up to shake hands with our competitors as cheering voices still reverberated throughout my body. 

“great job.” i smiled bracingly as i shook each hand, until i got to the kid who answered the question before mine. 

“you did great, peter.” he said, grinning so wide his smile reached the ends of his ears. 

_ how did he know my name? holy shit, did he know i was spider-man, o-or did he - stupid peter. _

i followed the guys eyes to my name embroidered on my decathlon blazer. _ peter parker. it was right there, why did i always have to overthink everything? _

“t-thanks, you too.” i grinned back. i felt mj grab my hand and try to drag me back to the flurry of yellow jackets jumping in joy. 

“uh, bye.” i waved goofily. i turned around, giving into mj’s incessant pulling of my arm, but not before i saw something crazy. 

a wink. _ did the cute decathlon guy really wink at me? i’m probably just making it up in my head. why am i even excited about it? it happened or it didn’t. whatever. _

i got another hug from cindy and a reluctant high five from flash as i thought back to that boy in the red blazer. 

_ i’m pretty sure it happened. _


	7. these christmas decorations are shit (pt. 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> december 24th at avengers tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! so i decided to write just the beginning of this chapter in tony's perspective, but it goes back to peter's real soon! enjoy :)

**chapter seven: these christmas decorations are shit (pt.1)**

_( tony ) _

christmas. 

a joyous time. 

  
  
  


who am i kidding? christmas wasn’t the best time of year. for me. the 16th had been rough, but it was christmas eve and i was spending it with my family. my new family. 

“is that another grey hair i see?” natasha joked as she walked into the communal kitchen. 

“oh, shut your mouth widow.” i smirked, running my hands through my (increasingly) greying hair. 

“mornin’ dad.” peter smiled as he strolled into the kitchen, taking his typical morning seat on the island stool. 

“merry christmas eve, kiddo.” i replied chirply, pouring myself a cup of coffee. steve walked in a moment later, swiping peter’s phone from his hands, getting a frustrated whine from the kid who reached for his phone back.

“omelettes, anyone?” steve asked, looking through the refrigerator and taking out a carton of eggs. 

“can i please have my phone back?” peter begged, looking at steve with his trademark puppy dog eyes. mr. america’s ass laughed and tossed it back to him. 

“you kids are so addicted to screens these days.” steve chuckled, cracking eggs in a bowl and watching peter rapidly type something on his phone. 

“texting someone important, huh?” i wiggled my eyebrows and tried to take a peek at my kid’s phone, earning a scowl from him. 

“nope. no one important. just wishing my orthodontist a merry christmas.” peter joked, quickly shutting off his phone and shoving it in his pocket. 

“o-kay.” i said, turning around and grabbing a banana. “i will be in my lab, peter - we’re getting your a1c results back later today, and everyone else - don’t disturb me.” i said as i scrolled through the news on my phone. 

“whatcha making?” rhodey appeared out of nowhere in the kitchen, enjoying the banter. 

“me? i’m making omelettes, but i’m guessing stark here’s probably off to finish some christmas presents.” steve replied, sprinkling some sort of spice into the sizzling pan. 

“anyways, i’m off. i’ll see you at four in the medbay, okay kid?” i checked to see that peter was punching numbers into his omnipod. 

“yup.” peter gave me a thumbs up, and i headed to the elevator. i just had to finish peter’s christmas present today. i really hope he likes it. 

  
  
  


_ ( peter ) _

this would be my third christmas at the tower, and what could i say? it was amazing. after dinner - which was basically a buffet of every type of cuisine possible (thanks dad!) - clint suggested we have a super smash bros tournament, which he won, and we were now watching the grinch (the 2018 version, not the 2000 one with the really freaking green fluffy guy). 

i returned to the crazy blanket fort/sofa situation we had going on with a bowl of ice cream in hand. 

“i bolused ten minutes ago and it’s sugar free, relax.” i whispered to tony, taking my seat again, engulfed by the two giant pillows i put on either side of me. 

after my ice cream and watching the grinch’s heart grow three sizes, tony announced it was time to open presents. 

actually, present, singular. 

would you believe me if i told you that the avengers tradition on christmas eve was to open a single present on christmas eve? well, i wouldn’t believe it either, but its true. after the traditional christmas movie and before the traditional christmas karaoke party (that i did not participate in, i was simply content watching), we sat around the tree in our plethora of blankets and pillows and watched every one open their presents. 

and then it was my turn. 

“here, peter.” natasha handed me a present that was set aside for me to open tonight. 

_ from “mr. stark” _

_ don’t use these so much your poor baby spider ears hurt _

i smiled softly at the note. i unwrapped the awesome wrapping paper - they had different blueprints on them! - and unveiled the gift: a pair of red and blue wireless headphones. i got up and hurried over to tony. “thanks, dad.” i said into his shoulder, embracing him in a hug. 

“no problem, bud.” he replied, i sat next to tony as i watched the rest of the avengers finish opening their gifts. natasha got some weird santa claus figurine from clint and they shared yet another “budapest” moment - we never understood what that meant but they seemed to like it - and i got tony a _ #1 dad/engineer _mug and a framed picture of us. the hug i got from him was nearly suffocating. 

karaoke was chaotic, and before i knew it, it was midnight and my dad was telling me to go to sleep. 

“the earlier you sleep, the faster christmas morning comes!” he grinned at me while shooing me to the elevator. 

“like you know anything about sleep.” i retorted jokingly, my dad poking me in the ribs and making me laugh. 

and that was christmas eve, i guess. i checked my bg real quick before passing out in my bed - it was 89 - and woke up in a room that wasn’t mine. 

  
  
  


_ december 25th _

_ 12:06pm _

my eyes fluttered open and i was soon able to see my dad, bruce, and steve standing around me. 

“peter?” my dad’s voice was wavering slightly.

“dad?” i asked. i tried to get more comfortable on the bed but when i tried to move, my head spun and i felt sick. 

“you might be a little disoriented, peter.” bruce said, noting my hands trying to hold my head steady. 

“okay.” i said quietly, not liking the increasingly tense silence taking over the room. 

tony spoke up first, asking the dreaded question. 

“so, care to tell us what happened?” 

i bit my lip. “these christmas decorations are shit, you know.” i tried to joke, but the stern expressions on everyone in the room warned me this was no time to joke. 

"what happened last night, kid?" 

well, fuck me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAH CLIFFHANGER SORRY 
> 
> i really wanted to post a full chapter but i decided to post this much first - christmas with the avengers is quite an ordeal - and update as soon as i can !! 
> 
> stay safe everyone <3
> 
> *also, here's what i pictured the headphones peter got as: https://bit.ly/2U6Cp3V*


	8. these christmas decorations are shit (pt. 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> christmas part two!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaah this turned out way fluffier than i expected :) sorry for the cliffhanger before, i know this isn't a crazy huge reveal but hope you enjoy!

**chapter eight: these christmas decorations are shit (pt.2)**

( tony )

“can you promise you won’t be mad at me?” 

“i’m not mad at you, peter.” i sighed, stroking his hair gently. it was just me and peter in the medbay at this point. “you just scared me, kid. your bg dropped to 29 at five in the morning, we just want to know if anything that happened might've caused that.” i explained softly. 

“you won’t be mad when i tell you?” 

i shook my head. peter took a breath. 

“i know i’m not supposed to, but it, it was just sitting there and everyone was asleep and it was just too loud - ” the kid started to panic.

“peter, kiddo, calm down. what happened last night?” i put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“i drank.”

“you drank.”

peter nodded miserably. 

“i was exhausted and i couldn’t stop seeing may’s face and i didn’t think things through, i’m sorry dad, i’m sorry mr.stark - ”

shit. it was never good when peter called me ‘mr. stark’. 

“it’s okay, peter, it’s okay.” i said reassuringly, trying to calm down the panicked sixteen year old in my arms. 

“do you want to talk about it?” i asked several moments later. friday would always alert me when peter was in distress at night, i knew he had nightmares sometimes but he never really talked to me about it, and i didn’t want to ask about it -

“maybe later?” peter’s quiet voice spoke up. i nodded. _ maybe was better than no, right? _

“so, i don’t have to tell you that drinking underage is never good, and especially for diabetics, and that i don’t want to have this kind of thing happen again, right? i think friday might be concerned at the number of glucagon kits i’ve ordered online lately.” i joked-slash-lectured, peter listening intently. 

“yup. no late-night drinking binges happening anytime soon.” he smiled.

we lay on the kinda uncomfortable bed (i made a mental note to renovate the medbay) for a while before the kid spoke up. 

“dad?” he asked, biting his lip. 

“yeah, buddy?”

“did i ruin christmas?” he said quietly, wringing his hands. 

i frowned and shifted so i could look at peter’s face. 

“of course you didn’t.” i started, the kid still looking skeptical. “peter, you can’t blame yourself for things you couldn’t control. god knows how pepper is still with me after i almost attacked her in my sleep with one of my suits,” i trailed off. “but you could never ruin christmas, bud. i love you.”

“i love you too, dad.” peter grinned, giving me a weak hug. 

bruce strolled in a few minutes later, flipping through papers on a clipboard. 

“so, peter, your bg is climbing up, but we just want to keep you here a little while longer to make sure it stays stable for the rest of the day.” bruce explained, giving me a pat on the back. 

“okay. what time is it?” peter asked. 

i looked down at my stark watch. “one o’clock in the afternoon, kiddo.”

peter sighed exasperatedly. 

“dad, until bruce lets me leave this _ hell hole _ can you grab my new decathlon test booklet from my room and test me?”

i chuckled. “alright, kid.”

  
  
  


( peter )

i was out of the medbay around two in the afternoon, which meant for an entire evening of christmas festivities. 

dinner was insanely delicious, and opening the rest of my christmas presents from everyone was awesome. 

the rest of the day flew by so fast, i soon found myself in tony’s lab, sitting in our make-shift fort with dum-e whirring around wearing a santa hat, watching star wars with my dad. 

“hey, peter.” tony said, turning the volume down - the screens in the lab were the _best_ \- and turning towards me. “i got, well, i made you something.” he pulled out a small box covered in shiny gold wrapping paper. i took it carefully. 

“you made me something?” i asked incredulously. any tony stark invention was crazy mind blowing in my opinion, especially my suit. 

tony nodded as i carefully peeled the wrapping paper away and opened the box, revealing a device of some kind. i picked it up extra-careful as to not damage, whatever it was. 

it kinda looked like ned’s jbl speaker, but it was made of crystal clear glass and had a wicked cool titanium skeleton on the inside. 

“uh, i’m no billionaire genius but what _ is _ this?” i asked, inspecting the device from different angles. 

“well, i don’t really have a name for it, but i can show you what it does.” my dad smiled. i delicately handed him the device and watched him tap the sides of the holographic screens with awe. 

“it’s a sleep aid device, of sorts.” tony started. “like when you can’t sleep, or you wake up in the middle of the night, it has different settings and protocols to help you fall back asleep to calm you down after nightmares.” he explained. 

“thank you, this is crazy cool, dad.” i gave tony a big hug, before getting a hard whack on the head by a pillow. 

“hey!” 

we ended up having a quick pillow fight - it ended with me jumping to the ceiling and sticking a tongue out at tony before he laughed and told me to come back down - and finished the rest of the movie. 

“merry christmas, kid.”

“merry christmas, dad.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was writing this while watching spiderman: homecoming with my dad and i can't get over how adorable tom holland is asdfcnaliwecbafgiwyh
> 
> stay safe! next chapter should be up soooon!


	9. panic at the disco

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the stark industries gala.
> 
> tuxes are not comfortable. 
> 
> peter really needs to work on his gliding skills.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i realized today how much i hate writing dialogue, sorry not sorry :)

**chapter nine: panic at the disco**

february in new york is pretty great. the snow coats the entire city like white paint, and the post-midterm feeling could be basked in forever. 

but one thing was always a big deal in february. and no, i’m not talking about valentine’s day. 

the stark gala. pepper was super nervous, constantly talking on the phone with (probably hella important) people and clutching her stark pad like it was the last pint of ice cream at the grocery store. 

and tony. he asked me repeatedly to attend this year, but i kept telling him what i told him the last two years: fancy-schmancy-rich-people-wearing-gucci events weren’t really my thing. he would say he understood, but proceeded to ask me every morning at breakfast if i changed my mind. 

so, when i woke up the day of the gala, i knew what my dad was going to ask me as soon as i stepped off the elevator and joined him in the lab for our saturday morning breakfast/lab time. 

“hey, kiddo, can you pass me that die grinder please?” tony asked as soon as spotted me in the corner of his eye, gesturing to a tool on the other workbench. 

“yup.” i quickly grabbed the tool and handed it to my dad, who was hunkered over his new suit and making little adjustments. 

“can you do a quick blood test before you get started on your suit? i think you were supposed to replace your cgm sensor last night.” he said, continuing to tinker with his suit. 

i sighed, grabbing a testing kit from the lab kitchen cupboard. i pricked my pinky finger swiftly, squeezed until a red droplet of blood appeared on the surface, and dabbed it on the testing strip, hearing the familiar beeps until the number appeared. _ 142\. _

satisfied, i raced to get my suit from one of the displays and eagerly pulled out my blueprints for improved web shooters with a few extra web combinations. 

i looked over at my dad, who was in deep concentration as he welded a small metal plate, and smiled. saturday mornings were the best. 

______________

  
  


after demolishing the cream cheese and apple sandwiches pepper made me and tony eat while we worked, i noticed tony putting his unfinished suit in its display case. 

“you sure you don’t want to come to the gala this year? it’s ocean themed.” my dad grinned, coming over to my workbench. he glanced over my work and gave me an approving thumbs up. 

even if i did want to go - an ocean theme did sound kinda cool, and i finished my homework for the weekend last night - i didn’t have anything to wear. 

“pepper was hoping you would change your mind, so she might’ve left a tux for you in your closet yesterday.” tony said, reading my mind. 

“okay.” i replied, smiling. of course pepper stark-potts would be prepared for a sixteen year old kid changing his mind at the last minute.

“really? cool. so i’ll be going early with pepper and rhodey, but everyone else is taking the jet there at seven. meet them at the helipad at 6:30, okay?” tony rattled off, almost out of the lab. 

“sounds good.” i responded, focused on finishing up the first part of my web shooter adjustments. 

the gala would be fun, right? nat, bruce, sam, clint, everyone was going anyways, and dad was always nervous when i was at the tower by myself (even though i’m completely capable of taking care of myself!). despite the weird snail appetizers and making small talk with people i only recognized from magazines, it had potential to be a great night. 

__________________

  
  


key word: potential. as soon as i got there, my spidey-sense tingled as i saw crowds of reporters and photographers taking pictures of everyone walking across the deck onto the ship. 

“don’t worry about it, peter. just do your best douchebag impression as you walk in, like sam here does every time he goes to one of these things.” clint joked, getting poked by sam hard in the ribs. 

it wasn’t as easy as it looked. once we were in the main foyer of the ship, a giant blue holographic whale was projected above us, reminding me of a high-tech “under the sea” prom you see in all those cheesy movies. i kept that little anecdote to myself as the avengers and i found our seats and settled in to listen to the presentations. 

___________________

  
  


_ breathe, peter. _

_ but holy shit, that’s a lot of people. does tony even know all these guys? how does he remember everyone’s names? i wonder if i can make contact lenses with a built in HUD that can identify people’s faces and give you their name, interests and whatever so you can actually have productive conversations with them. _

_ ugh, this suit is so hot. plus, it feels like a thousand dollars and that feeling is not great. _

_ this music sucks. tony definitely did not make this playlist. _

_ i need to take a breather. the bathrooms on this ship would be nice, right? okay, peter, just find the bathrooms. _

ten minutes later i found myself trying to cool down and take deep breaths in front of giant gold mirror in the fanciest bathroom i have ever seen. the ones at the tower are really modern and all, but this looked like the queen of england was about to enter and take a dump. 

i was about to put my tux jacket back on when i noticed some red mark on my white shirt. e examining it further, i saw that my new dex sensor was bleeding. i was in such a rush to replace it before i had to meet everyone on the jet that i must not have noticed. 

i knew that if it was bleeding it could mess up the readings, so i flipped out my phone to send a quick text to my dad. 

_ hey tony _

_ my sensors kinda bleeding so i’m gonna swing back to the tower and get a new one in _

_ brb :) _

happy with the message, i quickly donned my web shooters. climbing up the side of the cruise ship, i noticed that we weren’t too far from shore. 

_ thank god tony installed the new long range feature. _

i shot a web and it caught onto a building, and swung as fast as i could to the giant “A” illuminated in the sky. 

_______________

  
  


replacing the sensor took less than ten minutes, i checked my bg - _ 81 _\- took a few glucose tabs (they were watermelon flavoured!) and headed back to the boat. 

i knew the boat would be farther from the shore than it was before, so i stuffed my tux into a backpack (sorry pepper!) and put on my spiderman suit with the gliders. 

i was happily swinging back to the gala when my spidey-sense set off, directing me to a small gunfight happening on the outskirts of a shipping dock. i made my way there, taking note of the three men holding each other at gunpoint. 

“hey, guys, anyone tell you shooting a buddy is against the law?” i quipped, webbing two guns to the ground, and another to a lampost nearby. karen dialed the cops and once i made sure everyone was secure, and continued on my way to the boat. 

_ that scene kinda looked familiar. _

i braced myself for the jump and opened up my arms as the gliders activated. i tried my best to glide _ gracefully _to the boat, and slammed into the side. 

_ it’s the ferry incident all over again. _i laughed softly, but felt a pang of guilt in my chest. that wasn’t the best day for spidey. 

i was on the observation deck when i felt like a truckload of bricks hit me. 

_ your first week as spider-man, and you let one guy get a shot off, killing that innocent man. he probably had a family, maybe even kids, like you, who just lost their dad - or uncle - _

i grabbed frantically at my chest to stop the panic arising there. 

_ you think doing all this good stuff, taking credit for all the work the avengers do - while you help out a tiny bit - is any good? you messed up, peter, and you won’t stop messing up - _

i didn’t realize i wasn’t breathing normally until my vision started getting darker, my breaths coming in quick, ragged puffs and gasps for oxygen. i hated this. _ why couldn’t i be a normal superhero? superheroes are supposed to be stronger than this. _i was on the verge when i heard an all-too familiar voice shout my name. 

“peter?”

_____________

  
  


“how’d you know?” i asked quietly, still rocking slightly in tony’s arms as he held me on the cold observation deck. 

“FRIDAY alerted me to your high, and increasing levels of distress out of range even for a social event.” my dad explained, rubbing small circles on my back. 

“oh.” is all i could say, as i continued to inhale the cold february air into my lungs, feeling a little better. 

“you must be freezing.” tony said, noticing my body’s little trembles as i worked to calm myself down after my panic attack. i nodded, so we headed back into the ship, sitting down on some plush chairs near the elevators. _ elevators on a boat? this ship’s insane. _i thought, smiling at my returned sense of curiosity and humour. 

_________________

  
  


after what felt like endless encouragements from tony to not “bottle up my feelings and talk about what caused the anxiety” - his words, not mine - we ended up talking for a bit about the gunfight, and the one i had encountered when i was in my first few days of being queens’ new vigilante. 

and don’t EVER tell him this, but it felt good talking about it. i didn’t really have anyone to talk to when i was out “spidermanning” for the first few months and when i was first noticed by tony it became more about avengers missions, not the little things i experienced before.

we joined the gala after talking, and with my dad by my side through most of it, and cracking jokes with nat and making fun of sam trying to hit on the celebrities there, it passed by so fast i was surprised when we had docked. 

  
  
  


so, what did i learn today? 

  
  


sam is terrible at picking up girls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! i can't believe its almost the end of this story, i have just one chapter left, but i'm thinking of splitting it up into two or three parts so that i can update more often!
> 
> stay safe :)


	10. a lifelong battle (pt.1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter is NOT a good driver.
> 
> also, mean people need to stop using alien tech to cause destruction. seriously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi all! i want to get these last few chapters up as soon as i can, so here's part 1 (of 3!) of the final chapter of this fic :) 
> 
> not beta'd + sleep deprivation = this chapter!  
hope you enjoy :)

**chapter ten: a lifelong battle (pt.1)**

don’t get me wrong, i love school. i mean, getting into midtown was one of the best days of my life. 

but could spring break just get here already?

i grudgingly went to school the last march friday before the break, knowing full well the day would pass painfully slow. 

75 minutes of physics. 

75 minutes of english lit. 

the cafeteria during lunch seemed emptier than usual (seniors always skipped the friday before spring break) as i watched ned and mj argue about the student loan crisis and ate my sandwich. 

i could barely concentrate in third period geography and got (intensely) stared down by mj for drumming my fingers incessantly on my desk for the entire calculus class. 

_ 2:45. _

the bell rang, finally ending of the day and signaling the start of spring break. 

driving lessons with nat (tony was too scared to be in a car with me driving!), sleeping in, binging episodes of ‘the good place’, and spending endless hours in the lab. i smiled at the thought of my next two weeks: chilling and forgetting about the stress that is junior year.

______________

  
  


“turn left. peter, turn left here, LEFT. PETER!” 

i rapidly changed lanes and turned left at the intersection nat was trying to so desperately point out to me. 

“sorry.” i said sheepishly, trying to smile. i continued to drive down the empty road until nat told me to make a right into a grocery store parking lot. 

“that wasn’t terrible, parker.” she noted as i parked the car - albeit out of place and between two parking spots - and gestured for us to switch spots. 

“thanks.” i jokingly bowed at my awful first attempt driving somewhere that wasn’t the tower parking lot. 

“who taught you how to drive?” i asked, settling into the passenger seat as nat opened the driver’s door and slid in. 

“i taught myself, after i hijacked a car and had to escape from a kenyan underground arms factory that was about to explode.”

“cool.” 

__________________

  
  


we were all eating dinner - and by eating, i meant talking, because let me tell you, the avengers just LOVE chatting about anything and everything - when a deafening alarm suddenly came out of nowhere. 

one of the screens in the kitchen lit up with bright blue holographic words: IMMEDIATE ATTN: MISSION ALERT

everyone scrambled from their chairs and quickly made their way to the helicarrier. _ what was happening? please, please don’t let there be aliens. _i thought, following everyone to the quinjet, before i felt a strong hand grip my shoulder. 

“peter, stay here.” it was my dad, looking serious and talking in his i’m-not-joking-the-world-is-probably-in-danger voice. 

“but i’m an avenger! you said so yourself!” i protested, continuing to make my way to the quinjet, where most of the avengers were already on board. 

“just stay here, please. we can handle it.” tony reiterated, staring me right in the eyes and then bolting onto the jet with his armour just waiting to erupt out of the device on his chest. 

i pouted. i was sixteen, almost _ seventeen _. and i was a superhero. my dad might’ve told peter parker to stay at the tower, but spider-man needed to help fix whatever was going on. i leaped onto the jet as the door closed and it started going up into the air, soon taking off at a record speed.

i jumped onto the ceiling and watched as everyone was briefed on what was going on. 

“several armed non-alien terrorists have taken over samsung tower palace, taking hundreds of people living there as hostages, with others robbing several large banks around seoul. we have no idea how they just appeared out of nowhere, but they have an arsenal of advanced drones causing destruction on the the parc1 and hyperion tower a. it is possible that the targets have access to weapons fueled by alien technology.” an agent was reporting clearly, showing live footage of the attack. “authorities have received a message threatening the lives of all the hostages unless the robberies are executed, but this priority is keeping civilians safe from the weaponized drones and getting people out of the city safely.”

“eta is ten minutes.” my dad’s voice announced, tapping furiously at the screen in front of him. _ ten minutes? the wakandan modifications to the jet must be insane. _

as i continued to ponder the speed of our aircraft, i failed to notice i wasn’t focusing on sticking to the ceiling and fell onto the floor. loudly. 

“shit.” i muttered, scrambling back up quickly, all the avengers eyes on me. tony looked especially angry. 

“i thought i told you to stay in the tower.” he said, making me bite my lip. 

“i just wanted to help - ”

“and i just wanted my kid to be at home safe and sound but i guess we’re both not getting what we want today.” tony interrupted me, the seoul skyline quickly approaching us, 

“you’re staying on the quinjet.” he said sternly, as everyone prepared to descend. 

“people are getting hurt and you don’t even care-“ 

“i care! i care about my kid not getting killed in a fight that the adults can fully handle-“

“i can help - ”

“no, you can’t. your bg’s not high enough for this kind of fight - if you pass out in battle you could get seriously injured -”

“that’s not fair!” i yelled, my throat feeling strained. “you can’t keep using that as an excuse to keep me safe-”

“i don’t want you getting hurt, peter. i care about you.”

“just, stop it! you’re not even my real dad!” i yelled back. i felt a pang in my chest when i said that, nat interrupting our fight when she directed our attention to the scene ahead of us. 

my dad didn’t say another word as he tapped his chest, the iron man armour engulfing his body, and jumped out of the back of the jet. thor immediately took off, and moments later sam, steve, clint, nat, and bruce were joining the fight too. 

i couldn’t just sit here. not while there were people in danger and i could do something about it. 

i leapt out the back of the hovering jet and swung down to the crowd of people running around in chaos. i barely noticed my bg level illuminated on my HUD. _ 75\. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> peter really needs to stop being so impulsive but also like needs to keep doing that bc he's just adorable when he decides to jump into action <3
> 
> pt 2 will hopefully be up later today/tomorrow! 
> 
> byee


	11. a lifelong battle (pt.2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter reminds himself: spider-man is stronger than peter parker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh im so sorry for posting this so late! i've had a really rough last week, and even though i did finish part two of this final chapter, it definitely isn't my best :( 
> 
> enjoy!

“i’ve got one down at tower 2.” i heard natasha report through the comms. i flew through the air ensuring all the civilians were out of harms way. 

“steve and i on our way to tower 2.” clint replied curtly. “tony, you’ve got one convict confirmed and two suspected in tower 4.” 

i made my way to one of the banks being hit, karen identifying four armed men and six hostages. 

swinging through the broken entrance, i webbed up one of the bad guys to a nearby clerk desk. “two, three - that gun is crazy huge, dude! - and four.” i shouted as i counted the convicts, shooting webs at their weapons before any shots could be fired. 

i untied the ropes and gags binding the hostages, directing them to the safe area outside the city. 

“update on the drones?” steve’s voice asked urgently. 

“sam and i are taking out as many as we can, but these things are advanced. nearly got shot down by one. what’s the situation with hacking the system?” rhodey answered, the sound of rushing wind coming through in my headset. 

“peter, your blood glucose level has dropped below acceptable fighting standards - ”

“shut up, karen!” i interrupted my AI. scanning the scene from the top of an apartment complex, i spotted one of the convicts speeding away towards the bridge to leave the city. 

i instantly shot out two webs latching onto another high rise, swinging briskly towards the bridge. 

“web grenades, karen!” i webbed up the runaway car’s tires as it spun to a stop on the bridge. 

i was getting close enough to get the guy when i felt a wave of dizziness. 

no.

dad’s telling me something, but my head hurts and i can’t hear him.

shit.

shaky hands.

pounding headache.

blurry vision.

i wasn’t an idiot. i knew what was happening.

karen displayed my bg on my heads-up display. the number 33 flashed back at me, with a straight downwards arrow beside it.

not now.

please, not now.

i tried to swing from the bridge’s supports to land on the car when i felt my arm jerked in the opposite direction, catching on a web from before. 

i yelped out in pain as my entire body was thrown onto the bridge, a squeal of tires roaring in my ears as the convict drove off. 

_ c’mon, peter! he’s getting away. get up. GET UP.  _

my (probably) fractured ribs ached as i tried to get on my feet. 

“peter.” karen’s artificial voice came through the speakers in my mask. “your blood sugar level is 28, alerting mr. stark of your location.” 

“no, wait, there’s a b-bad guy - away, i’ve have to g’ him - ” i tried to protest, failing to get back up. i lay down on the bridge like a broken doll, unable to move. my vision was getting cloudy as my breaths gradually slowed. 

_ one of the bad dudes got away. everyone’s gonna be so pissed.  _

_ especially tony.  _

i squinted my eyes and barely made out two figures flying towards me. _tony and rhodey? _i shook my head. _am i seeing double?_ _it’s just dad, i think. _my vision started tunnelling into darkness when i heard a loud clank of metal on the concrete. the last thing i saw was a red and gold blur scooping me up from the ground. 

_ i’m sorry, dad. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i realized i wrote a lot more chapters with peter having lows than highs but ig thats that? hopefully the final part will be out soon :) stay safe y'all


	12. a lifelong battle (pt.3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the final chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao i did not expect to write this so fast after JUST posting part two but here it is! enjoy :)

** _tony_ **

“peter, PETER!” i yelled as i flew as fast as i could to the kid lying on the bridge. without hesitation, i picked him up and immediately had FRIDAY chart course to the nearest hospital. he felt so light, so fragile, and the fact that HE WASN’T OPENING HIS EYES was freaking me out. as soon as i got to the emergency room, they immediately took in the sight of iron man bringing in an unconscious kid and got to work. 

i stepped out of the suit and fell to my knees, shaking, as peter was hastily placed on a gurney and doctors surrounded him. i knew his blood sugar was way too low, even for an enhanced human like peter. 28. the thought of the number alone scared me. i braced myself on the wall and slumped into a nearby chair. 

i didn’t give a second of thought to the fight going on. peter was on the verge of, of dying, and nothing was more important than _ my kid _ making it out of this alive. _ my kid. _

________________

in about an hour steve reported that all convicts were in custody and that the mission was completed. i didn’t care. i was sitting next to peter’s bed, watching him intensely as he breathed slowly, an IV in his arm and his bg level illuminated on a nearby machine. 

peter would be fine, right? i tried to ignore the doctor’s voice in my head, informing me of possible effects of the coma. _ hypoglycemia typically causes functional brain failure. in rare cases, this can lead to brain death - _

  1. i refused to think about peter dying. he was here, in the hospital, and he was getting better. my phone buzzed in my pocket. i pulled it out and grimaced when i saw it was steve. 

“what?” i asked gruffly. 

“what the hell happened?”

language, steve.

  
  
  


** _peter_ **

ugh. i _ did not _feel good. 

i tried to crane my neck to observe at the three people around me. tony, uncle rhodey, and steve were standing around my hospital bed. i was about to say something when i remembered the mission. 

i looked up at the battered superheroes surrounding my hospital bed. tony. uncle rhodey. steve. _ why am i here again? why do they look so sad? shit, what happened? _

_ the mission is what happened. _

i couldn’t breathe. the familiar faces around me blurred as i tried to get ahold of my breathing. 

“peter, it’s okay.” my dad’s voice was soothing with a hint of restlessness. “breathe in your nose, out your mouth.” he said, rubbing small circles on my back. steve and uncle rhodey looked at each other anxiously as i continued to gasp for oxygen. 

“breathe, breathe.” tony repeated, taking deep breaths for me to copy. he grabbed my hand and placed it over his chest. 

“i can’t!” i managed to get out, wheezing and feeling tears forming in my eyes. shit. it had never been this bad before. 

my dad continued to hold me reassuringly, looking me right in the eyes with a soft expression. “take a deep breath through your nose.” he said, trying to steady my inconsistent breathing. 

“it’s not working, i can’t!” i gasped exasperatedly. _ this is it. i’m gonna die from this fucking panic attack. _

“yes, you can, peter.” 

a few moments later and i was taking deeper breaths in, slowly breathing them out through my mouth, copying tony. 

for a while we just lay like that, me holding onto tony’s hands like a freaking vice - if it hurt, he wasn’t saying anything - and trying to calm down. i felt my heart rate return to normal and finally took in my surroundings. guessing from the posters and signage in korean i was assuming we were still in seoul, and in a hospital at that. 

“you want to talk about it?” my dad spoke up, a sadness in his voice i had never heard before. 

“nope.”

tony shook his head. “try again.”

“why do you even ask if you’re going to make me talk about it?” i asked, smiling slightly. 

“because pepper got me this parenting book a while ago, and it said something about encouraging behaviours rather than placing them - ” i nodded along. “no.” he said, stopping himself. “very good attempt to get me off topic there, but we are going to talk about it.” he sighed, running his hand through my hair. 

“all of it?”

“all of it.”

  
  


and so we did. tony was understandably mad when we went over the events of me joining the fight, which was apparently an “overt disregard for my personal safety and wellbeing”, and we apologized for the fight we had on the quinjet earlier that day. 

as i was discharged and on tony’s private plane (don’t even get me started on that - i would’ve been just as happy to take a coach flight and reduce air pollution) i thought about these past few months. 

i was having highs and lows constantly. like freaking rollercoaster. 

  
  


ooh, i wonder if i can guilt tony into taking me to coney island tomorrow?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAGHHHH TONY BETTER TAKE OUR SWEET ADORABLE PETER TO CONEY ISLAND!!!
> 
> thanks you guys so much for reading my first completed fic on ao3! its been a crazy journey lol :) 
> 
> BIG NEWS: I WILL BE WRITING A SEQUEL!!! it will take place right after this one, so stay tuned for that!!! big things in store ;))


End file.
